Policy Officer

Australian Human Rights Commission; Sydney; Hybrid; AUD 100,000 - 112,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible hybrid work options

Job summary

Australian Human Rights Commission in Sydney is seeking an experienced Policy Officer focused on children’s rights and child safety. You will work with the National Children’s Commissioner and the Director of the Children’s Rights Team to deliver strategic priorities, coordinate activities, and build strong stakeholder relationships.

The role requires evaluating policy options, drafting reports and submissions, and ensuring accessible communication.

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge of children’s rights and child safety.
• Experience in policy development and drafting for government inquiries.
• Experience engaging directly with children and young people to inform policy.
• Ability to research, analyse and synthesize information from diverse sources.
• Excellent written and oral communication for diverse audiences.
• Organisational and project-management skills with deadlines.
• Liaison with government and civil society on children’s rights priorities.

Responsibilities

• Support the National Children’s Commissioner and Director of the Children’s Rights Team in priority work.
• Engage directly with children and young people to inform policy development.
• Draft statutory reports, project reports, submissions, speeches, and media releases.
• Liaise with government, NGOs, and civil society in children’s rights areas.
• Supervise staff and interns and manage deadlines.
• Provide budget support and reconcile accounts.
• Maintain accessible web content using a content management system.

Skills

Child rights policy

Stakeholder engagement

Research & analysis

Policy drafting

Communication skills

Budget support

Team supervision

Education

Relevant tertiary qualifications

Tools

CMS

Job description

Australian Human Rights Commission – Sydney NSW

The Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) is Australia’s national human rights institution, dedicated to fostering a society where human rights are upheld, protected, and celebrated. We envision an Australia where every individual is valued equally in dignity and rights.

Our mission involves promoting and safeguarding the human rights of all Australians by:

• Advising all levels of government and various public and private organisations.
• Strengthening laws, policies, and practices while providing accessible investigation and conciliation services.
• Engaging inclusively with civil society, communities, and the private sector.
• Raising awareness about human rights and offering educational resources.
• Collaborating with partners to cultivate a culture of respect for human rights across the nation.

We are looking for an experienced Policy Officer with expertise in children’s rights and child safety to work closely with the National Children’s Commissioner and the Director of the Children’s Rights Team in delivering strategic and operational priorities, coordinating key activities, fostering stakeholder relationships, contributing to the successful delivery of team projects and initiatives.

This ongoing / non ongoing position offers a competitive salary range of $99,734 - $111,701 per annum plus 15.4% superannuation.

This is a full-time position. Part-time arrangements may be considered for the right candidate.

We offer flexible, hybrid work options.

The Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) is Australia’s national human rights institution, dedicated to fostering a society where human rights are upheld, protected, and celebrated. We envision an Australia where every individual is valued equally in dignity and rights.

Our mission involves promoting and safeguarding the human rights of all Australians by:

• Advising all levels of government and various public and private organisations.
• Strengthening laws, policies, and practices while providing accessible investigation and conciliation services.
• Engaging inclusively with civil society, communities, and the private sector.
• Raising awareness about human rights and offering educational resources.
• Collaborating with partners to cultivate a culture of respect for human rights across the nation.

We are looking for an experienced Policy Officer with expertise in children’s rights and child safety to work closely with the National Children’s Commissioner and the Director of the Children’s Rights Team in delivering strategic and operational priorities, coordinating key activities, fostering stakeholder relationships, contributing to the successful delivery of team projects and initiatives.

This ongoing / non ongoing position offers a competitive salary range of $99,734 - $111,701 per annum plus 15.4% superannuation.

This is a full-time position. Part-time arrangements may be considered for the right candidate.

We offer flexible, hybrid work options.

The key duties of the position include:

What You’ll Do:

Support the National Children’s Commissioner and Director of the Children’s Rights Team through:

• directly engaging with children and young people.
• contributing to the priorities and core work of the Children’s Rights Team.
• providing written research briefings on current and emerging issues impacting on children’s rights and identified priority areas.
• drafting of statutory reports, project reports, submissions to domestic and international inquiries.
• drafting speeches, presentations, correspondence, media releases and social media posts.
• liaising with representatives from government, non-government organisations, civil society in identified children’s rights priority areas.
• supervising staff and interns (where required) with the ability to set priorities, manage time effectively, respond flexibly to changing work demands and to meet deadlines.
• providing budget support to the National Children’s Commissioner and Director Children Rights, including processing paperwork, and reconciling accounts.
• supporting the maintenance of the Children’s Rights Team web content (including development of new web content, repurposing of web content, updating links, ensuring content meets accessibility standards), using a website management system.

Eligibility

What We’re Looking For:

• Relevant tertiary qualifications.
• Sound knowledge and understanding of contemporary issues relating to the wellbeing of children and their families, including children’s rights and child safety is essential.
• Strong understanding of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child with the ability to embed child rights principles into policy and practice is essential.
• Experience consulting and engaging directly with children and young people to inform policy development is essential.
• Experience in researching, analysing and synthesising information from diverse sources to identify trends, inform policy, and support strategic objectives.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to write clearly and effectively for a wide range of audiences and in various styles, including reports, submissions to government inquiries and international treaty bodies as well as speeches and correspondence.
• Sound organisational and project management skills with the ability to set priorities, manage time effectively and to meet deadlines, including supervision of staff and interns (where required).
• Ability to liaise with representatives from government, non-government organisations, civil society in identified children’s rights priority areas.
• NSW Working With Children Check.

Notes

Why Join Us?

By becoming a part of our team, you'll play a vital role in influencing public conversations about human rights and making a meaningful impact. If you’re ready to use your skills to support a cause that matters, we want to hear from you!

Applications close:5pm 15 October AEDT

Notes

We value inclusivity and diversity and seek people who support and model the behaviours we promote in our workforce. We strongly encourage applications from First Nations Australians, mature workers, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, culturally and marginalised communities, carers, LGBTIQA+ and people with disability.

Under section 22(8) of the Public Service Act 1999, employees must be Australian citizens to be employed in the Australian Public Service (APS). An Agency Head may waive the requirement for citizenship prior to engaging an individual where it is appropriate to do so.

The Commission is committed to providing an accessible, inclusive work environment to enable people with a disability to participate fully in all aspects of employment. Applicants are encouraged to request reasonable adjustment as required to assist your participation in this recruitment process.

Please note that this position may be filled on either an ongoing or non-ongoing basis. If an offer of non-ongoing employment is made, the successful applicant would be employed for an initial period of up to eighteen months with the possibility of extension up to a maximum period of two years in total. The merit pool established through this selection process, which is valid for a period of eighteen months from the date the vacancy was advertised in the Public Service Gazette, may be used to fill future ongoing and non-ongoing vacancies in the Commission where the duties are of a similar nature.

RecruitAbility applies to this vacancy. Under the RecruitAbility scheme you will be invited to participate in further assessment activity for the vacancy if you choose to apply under the scheme; declare you have a disability; and meet the minimum requirements for the job. For more information visit: https://www.apsc.gov.au/recruitability.

For more Information

Information about the role and Commission practices may be sought from Dr Susan Nicolson, Director Children’s Rights via email **************@humanrights.gov.au.